By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
EL RENO – Two out-of-state men have been charged with violating state law for having plants used to grow marijuana when their vehicle was stopped this fall passing through Yukon.
Hector Ricardo Guzman, 42, and Anthony Marcus Gutierrez, 49, of Arleta, Calif., were charged Oct. 14 in Canadian County District Court with endeavoring to cultivate marijuana.
The felony case stems from the defendants’ Sept. 14 arrests by the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office after a traffic stop at 1:15 a.m. at Interstate 40 and Frisco Road.
Their actions violated Oklahoma’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, according to court documents.
Canadian County Assistant District Attorney Justin Kemp alleges Guzman and Gutierrez “knowingly, intentionally and co-jointly” possessed marijuana plants that were to be cultivated,” according to the charging document.
Neither man allegedly had the required licenses to do so.
Both Gutierrez and Guzman were booked into the Canadian County Jail Sept. 15 but bonded out the same day. Bond was set at $5,000 each.
Each defendant faces up to 10 years in state prison and a maximum $50,000 if convicted of the crime.
Transporting marijuana plants – from which a controlled dangerous substance may be derived – to cultivate in an Oklahoma-based marijuana grow operation is “in contravention of state law,” the Canadian County District Attorney’s Office alleges.
